Monroe County residents faced with foreclosure seek help at ESU workshop

Friday

Feb 1, 2013 at 3:16 PM

Monroe County residents threatened with home foreclosure came armed with paperwork and their stories during a state-sponsored forum Friday at East Stroudsburg University's Innovation Center.

David Pierce

Monroe County residents threatened with home foreclosure came armed with paperwork and their stories during a state-sponsored forum Friday at East Stroudsburg University's Innovation Center.

The event, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, enabled consumers to discuss their cases with certified housing counselors who specialize in negotiating loan modifications. Other workshops focused on Housing Finance Agency funding programs, legal options, local employment opportunities and building better credit.

Business was brisk, but not overwhelming during the early portion of the 12-hour event, scheduled in response to a five-month case backlog in a special Monroe County foreclosure-diversion court. “We feel the process will result in real positive outcomes for people in the community,” said Terri Redmond, the state housing agency's education manager.

“I was looking to retire here,” said Everett Branch of A Pocono Country Place, who has seen his mortgage and property tax bill steadily climb since moving here from Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2009. He hopes a counselor can help him succeed where he was unable to negotiate new loan terms with his lender.

Carla Carter of Stroudsburg is recently widow, out of work and trying to survive on a veterans pension and Social Security.

“I'm not in foreclosure, technically, now,” Carter said. “I'm trying to avoid that. The wolf is at the door, sort of speak.”

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